You’ve come back from a long day of work, the house is a tip and dinner is yet to be cooked. Household chores are not fun but someone has to do them. When you live with your partner these things should be split between the two.
However, that’s not the case in practice. Women are still finding themselves doing the vast majority of unpaid labour in the home, according to new research conducted by Indesit.
And the figures are eye-watering – women are spending at least 15 hours completing unpaid work every week.
This includes activities such as childcare, gardening, cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and other household responsibilities.
Men, on the other hand, spend 12.6 hours doing the same chores which equates to a 23% difference or 15 working days per year.
Similar research conducted by ONS found that British women reported spending 10 hours per week more than men on chores.
The research carried out by Indesit research highlights that this has reduced by a substantial 76% to a 2.4-hour difference.
Though the gap between unbalanced chores is narrowing, women are still taking on the majority of the responsibility for household work.
“As a mother and a woman, the purpose behind the Indesit brand of fostering equal responsibilities at home, speaks to me on a personal level,” Sara Bazeley, Indesit Brand Manager, UK says.
“Times are changing, and there are more women in full-time employment than ever before, so whilst there is still a long way to go, it’s encouraging to see men are helping more around the house than they used to.”
Only one in five British couples who live together split household and childcare responsibilities equally. Interestingly, this becomes more equal with those over 55s, with a quarter of couples splitting chores equally.
Of those chores, both men and women spend the most time cooking – averaging at 4.2 hours per week. Over 10% of those surveyed reported spending at least eight hours, or one full working day, per week on chores – 71% of that group were women.
To raise awareness of home inequality, Indesit wants women to “Take A Timeout” to help finally close the gap of household chores – a Gender Equality Month campaign to raise awareness of disproportionate time women spend on unpaid work.